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WAS H IN GTO N 


h 

X 

5 

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November 26, 1912 




THE 

CONSTITUTION 

OF THE 

UNITED STATES 


125th ANNIVERSARY 


Published in New York 
by The Pennsylvania Society 
December 14 th 
M. CM. XII 





ftB 17 !9I3 


The Constitution 

of the 

United States. 


We, the people of the United States, 
in order to form a more perfect union, 
establish justice, insure domestic tran¬ 
quility, provide for the common defense, 
promote the general welfare, and secure 
the blessings of liberty to ourselves and 
our posterity, do ordain and establish 
this Constitution for the United States 
of America. 

ARTICLE I. 

SECTION I. 

All legislative powers herein granted 
shall be vested in a Congress of the 
United States, which shall consist of a 
Senate and House of Representatives. 

SECTION II. 

The House of Representatives shall 
be composed of members chosen every 
3 



second year by the people of the several 
States, and the electors in' each State 
shall have the qualifications requisite 
for electors of the most numerous 
branch of the State legislature. 

No person shall be a Representative 
who shall not have attained the age of 
twenty-five years, and been seven years 
a citizen of the United States, and who 
shall not, when'elected, be an inhabitant 
of that State in which he shall be 
chosen. 

Representatives and direct taxes 
shall be apportioned among the several 
States which may be included within 
this Union, according to their respective 
numbers, which shall be determined by 
adding to the whole number of free 
persons, including those bound to ser¬ 
vice for a term of years, and excluding 
Indians not taxed, three fifths of all 
other persons. The actual enumeration 
shall be made within three years after 
the first meeting of the Congress of the 
United States, and within every subse¬ 
quent term of ten years, in such manner 
as they shall by law direct. The num- 


4 


ber of Representatives shall not exceed 
one for every thirty thousand, but each 
State shall have at least one Repre¬ 
sentative; and until such enumeration 
shall be made, the State of New Hamp- 
shire shall be entitled to choose three, 
Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and 
Providence Plantations one, Connecticut 
five, New York six. New Jersey four, 
Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Mary¬ 
land six, Virginia ten. North Carolina 
five, South Carolina five, and Georgia 
three. 

When vacancies happen in the repre¬ 
sentation from any State, the executive 
authority thereof shall issue w^rits of 
election to fill such vacancies. 

The House of Representatives shall 
choose their Speaker and other officers, 
and shall have the sole power of im¬ 
peachment. 

SECTION HI. 

The Senate of the United States 
shall be composed of two Senators from 
each State, chosen by the legislature 
thereof, for six years; and each Senator 
shall have one vote. 


5 


Immediately after they shall be as¬ 
sembled in consequence of the first elec¬ 
tion, they shall be divided as equally as 
may be into three classes. The seats of 
the Senators of the first class shall be 
vacated at the expiration of the second 
year; of the second class, at the expira¬ 
tion of the fourth year, and of the 
third class, at the expiration of the 
sixth year, so that one-third may be 
chosen every second year; and if 
vacancies happen by resignation or 
otherwise during the recess of the legis¬ 
lature of any State, the executive there¬ 
of may make temporary appointments 
until the next meeting of the legislature, 
which shall then fill such vacancies. 

No person shall be a Senator who 
shall not have attained to the age of 
thirty years, and been nine years a citi¬ 
zen of the United States, and who shall 
not, when elected, be an inhabitant of 
that State for which he shall be chosen. 

The Vice-President of the United 
States shall be President of the Senate, 
but shall have no vote, unless they be 
equally divided. 


6 


The Senate shall choose their other 
officers, and also a President pro tem¬ 
pore in the absence of the Vice-Presi¬ 
dent, or when he shall exercise the office 
of President of the United States. 

The Senate shall have the sole power 
to try all impeachments. When sitting 
for that purpose, they shall be on oath 
or affirmation. When the President of 
the United States is tried, the Chief Jus¬ 
tice shall preside: and no person shall 
be convicted without the concurrence of 
two thirds of the members present. 

Judgment in cases of impeachment 
shall not extend further than to removal 
from office, and disqualification to 
hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, 
or profit under the United States; but 
the party convicted shall, nevertheless, 
be liable and subject to indictment, trial, 
judgment, and punishment, according 
to law. 

SECTION IV. 

The times, places, and manner of 
holding elections for Senators and Rep¬ 
resentatives shall be prescribed in each 
State by the legislature thereof; but the 


7 


Congress may at any time by law make 
or alter such regulations, except as to 
the places of choosing Senators. 

The Congress shall assemble at least 
once in every year, and such meeting 
shall be on the first Monday in Decem¬ 
ber, unless they shall by law appoint a 
different day. 

SECTION V. 

Each house shall be the judge of the 
elections, returns, and qualifications of 
its own members, and a majority of 
each shall constitute a quorum to do 
business; but a smaller number may 
adjourn from day to day, and may be 
authorized to compel the attendance of 
absent members, in such manner, and 
under such penalties, as each house may 
provide. 

Each house may determine the rules 
of its proceedings, punish its members 
for disorderly behavior, and with the 
concurrence of two thirds, expel a 
member. 

Each house shall keep a journal of 
its proceedings, and from time to time 
publish the same, excepting such parts 


as may in their judgment require 
secrecy, and the yeas and nays of the 
members of either house on any ques¬ 
tion shall, at the desire of one fifth of 
those present, be entered on the journal. 

Neither house, during the session of 
Congress, shall, without the consent of 
the other, adjourn for more than three 
days, nor to any other place than that 
in which the two houses shall be sitting. 

SECTION VI. 

The Senators and Representatives 
shall receive a compensation for their 
services, to be ascertained by law and 
paid out of the Treasury of the United 
States. They shall, in all cases except 
treason, felony, and breach of the peace, 
be privileged from arrest during their 
attendance at the session of their respec¬ 
tive houses, and in going to and return¬ 
ing from the same; and for any speech 
or debate in either house they shall not 
be questioned in any other place. 

No Senator or Representative shall, 
during the time for which he was 
elected, be appointed to any civil office 
under the authority of the United 


9 


States, which shall have been created, 
or the emoluments whereof shall have 
been increased during such time; and 
no person holding any office under the 
United States shall be a member of 
either house during his continuance in 
office. 

SECTION VII. 

All bills for raising revenue shall 
originate in the House of Representa¬ 
tives; but the Senate may propose or 
concur with amendments as on other 
bills. 

Every bill which shall have passed 
the House of Representatives and the 
Senate shall, before it become a law, be 
presented to the President of the United 
States; if he approve he shall sign it, but 
if not he shall return it, with his objec¬ 
tions, to that house in which it shall 
have originated, who shall enter the ob¬ 
jections at large on their journal and 
proceed to reconsider it. If after such 
reconsideration two thirds of that house 
shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be 
sent, together with the objections, to 
the other house, by which it shall like- 


10 


wise be reconsidered, and if approved 
by two thirds of that house it shall be¬ 
come a law. But in all such cases the 
votes of both houses shall be determined 
by yeas and nays, and the names of the 
persons voting* for and against the bill 
shall be entered on the journal of each 
house respectively. If any bill shall not 
be returned by the President within ten 
days (Sundays excepted) after it shall 
have been presented to him, the same 
shall be a law, in like manner as if he 
had signed it, unless the Congress by 
their adjournment prevent its return, in 
which case it shall not be a law. 

Every order, resolution, or vote to 
which the concurrence of the Senate 
and House of Representatives may be 
necessary (except on a question of ad¬ 
journment) shall be presented to the 
President of the United States; and 
before the same shall take effect, shall 
be approved by him, or being disapprov¬ 
ed by him, shall be repassed by two 
thirds of the Senate and House of Rep¬ 
resentatives, according to the rules and 
limitations prescribed in the case of a 
bill. 


11 


SECTION VIII. 


The Congress shall have pov^er to 
lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, 
and excises, to pay the debts and pro¬ 
vide for the common defense and gen¬ 
eral welfare of the United States; but 
all duties, imposts, and excises shall be 
uniform throughout the United States; 

To borrow money on the credit of 
the United States; 

To regulate commerce with foreign 
nations and among the several States, 
and with the Indian tribes; 

To establish an uniform rule of 
naturalization, and uniform laws on the 
subject of bankruptcies throughout the 
United States; 

To coin money, regulate the value 
thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the 
standard of weights and measures; 

To provide for the punishing of 
counterfeiting the securities and current 
coin of the United States; 

To establish post-offices and post¬ 
roads; 

To promote the progress of science 
and useful arts by securing for limited 
12 


times to authors and inventors the ex¬ 
clusive right to their respective writings 
and discoveries; 

To constitute tribunals inferior to 
the Supreme Court; 

To define and punish piracies and 
felonies committed on the high seas and 
offenses against the law of nations; 

To declare war, grant letters of 
marque and reprisal, and make rules 
concerning captures on land and water; 

To raise and support armies, but no 
appropriation of money to that use shall 
be for a longer term than two years; 

To provide and maintain a navy; 

To make rules for the government 
and regulation of the land and naval 
forces; 

To provide for calling forth the 
militia to execute the laws of the Union, 
suppress insurrections, and repel inva¬ 
sions; 

To provide for organizing, arming, 
and disciplining the militia, and for gov¬ 
erning such part of them as may be em¬ 
ployed in the service of the United 
States, reserving to the States re- 


13 


spectively the appointment of the offi* 
cers, and the authority of training the 
militia according to the discipline pre¬ 
scribed by Congress; 

To exercise exclusive legislation in 
all cases whatsoever over such district 
(not exceeding ten miles square) as 
may, by cession of particular States and 
the acceptance of Congress, become the 
seat of the Government of the United 
States, and to exercise like authority 
over all places purchased by the consent 
of the legislature of the State in which 
the same shall be, for the erection of 
forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, 
and other needful buildings; and 

To make all laws which shall be 
necessary and proper for carrying into 
execution the foregoing powers, and all 
other powers vested by this Constitu¬ 
tion in the Government of the United 
States, or in any department or officer 
thereof. 

SECTION IX. 

The migration or importation of 
such persons as any of the States now 
existing shall think proper to admit 
14 


shall not be prohibited by the Congress 
prior to the year one thousand eight 
hundred and eight, but a tax or duty 
may be imposed on such importation, 
not exceeding ten dollars for each 
person. 

The privilege of the writ of habeas 
corpus shall not be suspended, unless 
when in cases of rebellion or invasion 
the public safety may require it. 

No bill of attainder or ex post facto 
law shall be passed. 

No capitation or other direct tax 
shall be laid, unless in proportion to the 
census or enumeration hereinbefore 
directed to be taken. 

No tax or duty shall be laid on 
articles exported from any State. 

No preference shall be given by any 
regulation of commerce or revenue to 
the ports of one State over those of an¬ 
other; nor shall vessels bound to or from 
one State be obliged to enter, clear, or 
pay duties in another. 

No money shall be drawn from the 
Treasury but in consequence of appro¬ 
priations made by law; and a regular 


16 


statement and account of the receipts 
and expenditures of all public money 
shall be published from time to time. 

No title of nobility shall be granted 
by the United States; and no person 
holding any office of profit or trust 
under them shall, without the consent 
of the Congress, accept of any present, 
emolument, office, or title, of any kind 
whatever, from any king, prince, or for¬ 
eign State. 

SECTION X. 

No State shall enter into any treaty, 
alliance, or confederation; grant letters 
of marque and reprisal; coin money; 
emit bills of credit; make anything but 
gold and silver coin a tender in payment 
of debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex 
post facto law, or law impairing the 
obligation of contracts, or grant any 
title of nobility. 

No State shall, without the consent 
of Congress, lay any imposts or duties 
on imports or exports, except what may 
be absolutely necessary for executing its 
inspection laws; and the net produce of 
all duties and imposts, laid by any State 
16 


on imports or exports, shall be for the 
use of the Treasury of the United 
States; and all such laws shall be sub¬ 
ject to the revision and control of the 
Congress. 

No State shall, without the consent 
of Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, 
keep troops or ships of war in time of 
peace, enter into any agreement or com¬ 
pact with another State or with a for¬ 
eign power, or engage in war, unless 
actually invaded or in such imminent 
danger as will not admit of delay. 

ARTICLE II. 

SECTION I. 

The executive power shall be vested 
in a President of the United States of 
America. He shall hold his office dur¬ 
ing the term of four years, and together 
with the Vice-President, chosen for the 
same term, be elected as follows: 

Each State shall appoint, in such 
manner as the legislature thereof may 
direct, a number of electors, equal to the 
whole number of Senators and Repre¬ 
sentatives to which the State may be 


17 


entitled in the Congress; but no Senator 
or Representative, or person holding an 
office of trust or profit under the United 
States, shall be appointed an elector. 

[The electors shall meet in their re¬ 
spective States and vote by ballot for 
two persons, of whom one at least shall 
not be an inhabitant of the same State 
with themselves. And they shall make 
a list of all the persons voted for, and ot 
the number of votes for each; which list 
they shall sign and certify, and transmit 
sealed to the seat of government of the 
United States, directed to the President 
of the Senate. The President of the 
Senate shall, in the presence of the Sen¬ 
ate and House of Representatives, open 
all the certificates, and the votes shall 
then be counted. The person having the 
greatest number of votes shall be the 
President, if such number be a majority, 
of the whole number of electors ap¬ 
pointed; and if there be more than one 
who have such majority, and have an 
equal number of votes, then the House 
of Representatives shall immediately 
choose by ballot one of them for Presi- 


18 


dent; and if no person have a majority, 
then from the five highest on the list 
the said House shall in like manner 
choose the President. But in choosing 
the President the votes shall be taken 
by States, the representation from each 
State having one vote; a quorum for 
this purpose shall consist of a member 
or members from two thirds of the 
States, and a majority of all the States 
shall be necessary to a choice. In every 
case, after the choice of the President, 
the person having the greatest number 
of votes of the electors shall be the Vice- 
President. But if there should remain 
two or more who have equal votes, the 
Senate shall choose from them by ballot 
the Vice-President.]* 

The Congress may determine the 
time of choosing the electors and the 
day on which they shall give their votes, 
which day shall be the same through¬ 
out the United States. 

No person except a natural-born 
citizen, or a citizen of the United States 
at the time of the adoption of this Con- 

*This clause has been amended by the XII amendment. 

19 


stitution, shall be eligible to the office of 
President; neither shall any person be 
eligible to that office who shall not have 
attained to the age of thirty-five years, 
and been fourteen years a resident with¬ 
in the United States. 

In case of the removal of the Presi¬ 
dent from office, or of his death, resig¬ 
nation, or inability to discharge the 
powers and duties of the said office, the 
same shall devolve on the Vice-Presi¬ 
dent, and the Congress may by law pro¬ 
vide for case of removal, death, resig¬ 
nation, or inability, both of the President 
and Vice-President, declaring what 
officer shall then act as President, and 
such officer shall act accordingly until 
the disability be removed or a President 
shall be elected. 

The President shall, at stated times, 
receive for his services a compensation, 
which shall neither be increased nor 
diminished during the period for which 
he may have been elected, and he shall 
not receive within that period any other 
emolument from the United States or 
any of them. 


20 


Before he enter on the execution of 
his office he shall take the following 
oath or affirmation: 

do solemly swear (or affirm) that 
I will faithfully execute the office of 
President of the United States, and will 
to the best of my ability preserve, pro¬ 
tect, and defend the Constitution of the 
United States/' 

SECTION II. 

The President shall be Commander- 
in-chief of the Army and Navy of the 
United States, and of the militia of tht 
several States when called into the 
actual service of the United States; he 
may require the opinion, in writing, of 
the principal officer in each of the execu¬ 
tive departments, upon any subject 
relating to the duties of their respective 
offices, and he shall have power to grant 
reprieves and pardons for offenses 
against the United States, except in 
cases of impeachment. 

He shall have power, by and with the 
advice and consent of the Senate, to 
make treaties, provided two thirds of 
the Senators present concur; and he 
21 


shall nominate, and, by and with the ad¬ 
vice and consent of the Senate, shall 
appoint ambassadors, other public min¬ 
isters and consuls, judges of the Sup¬ 
reme Court, and all other officers of the 
United States, whose appointments are 
not herein otherwise provided for, and 
which shall be established by law; but 
the Congress may by law vest the ap¬ 
pointment of such inferior officers, as 
they think proper, in the President 
alone, in the courts of law, or in the 
heads of departments. 

The President shall have power to 
fill up all vacancies that may happen 
during the recess of the Senate, by 
granting commissions which shall ex¬ 
pire at the end of their next session. 

SECTION III. 

He shall from time to time give to 
the Congress information of the state 
of the Union, and recommend to their 
consideration such measures as he shall 
judge necessary and expedient; he may, 
on extraordinary occasions, convene 
both houses, or either of them, and in 


22 


case of disagreement between them with 
respect to the time of adjournment, he 
may adjourn them to such time as he 
shall think proper; he shall receive am¬ 
bassadors and other public ministers; 
he shall take care that the laws be faith¬ 
fully executed, and shall commission 
all the officers of the United States. 

SECTION IV. 

The President, Vice-President, and 
all civil officers of the United States 
shall be removed from office on impeach¬ 
ment for and conviction of treason, 
bribery, or other high crimes and mis¬ 
demeanors. 


ARTICLE III. 

SECTION I. 

The judicial power of the United 
States shall be vested in one Supreme 
Court, and in such inferior courts as 
the Congress may from time to time 
ordain or establish. The judges, both 
of the supreme and inferior courts, 
shall hold their offices during good be¬ 
havior, and shall, at stated times, re- 


23 


ceive for their services a compensation 
which shall not be diminished during 
their continuance in office. 

SECTION II. 

The judicial power shall extend to 
all cases, in law and equity, arising 
under this Constitution, the laws of the 
United States, and treaties made, or 
which shall be made, under their author¬ 
ity; to all cases affecting ambassadors, 
other public ministers, and consuls; to 
all cases of admiralty and maritime ju¬ 
risdiction; to controversies to which the 
United States shall be a party; to con¬ 
troversies between two or more States; 
between a State and citizens of another 
State; between citizens of different 
States; between citizens of the same 
State claiming lands under grants of 
different States, and between a State, 
or the citizens thereof, and foreign 
States, citizens, or subjects. 

In all cases affecting ambassadors, 
other public ministers and consuls, and 
those in which a State shall be a party, 
the Supreme Court shall have original 

24 


jurisdiction. In all the other cases be¬ 
fore mentioned the Supreme Court shall 
have appellate jurisdiction, both as to 
law and fact, with such exceptions and 
under such regulations as the Congress 
shall make. 

The trial of all crimes, except in 
cases of impeachment, shall be by jury; 
and such trial shall be held in the State 
where the said crime shall have been 
committed; but when not committed 
within any State, the trial shall be at 
such place or places as the Congress 
may by law have directed. 

SECTION III. 

Treason against the United States 
shall consist only in levying war against 
them, or in adhering to their enemies, 
giving them aid and comfort. No per¬ 
son shall be convicted of treason unless 
on the testimony of two witnesses to 
the same overt act, or on confession in 
open court. 

The Congress shall have power to 
declare the punishment of treason, but 
no attainder of treason shall work cor- 


25 


ruption of blood or forfeiture except 
during the life of the person attainted. 

ARTICLE IV. 

SECTION I. 

Full faith and credit shall be given 
in each State to the public acts, records, 
and judicial proceedings of every other 
State. And the Congress may by gen¬ 
eral laws prescribe the manner in which 
such acts, records, and proceedings 
shall be proved, and the effect thereof. 

SECTION II. 

The citizens of each State shall be 
entitled to all privileges and immunities 
of citizens in the several States. 

A person charged in any State with 
treason, felony, or other crime, who 
shall flee from justice, and be found in 
another State, shall, on demand of the 
executive authority of the State from 
which he fled, be delivered up, to be re¬ 
moved to the State having jurisdiction 
of the crime. 

No person held to service or labor in 
one State, under the laws thereof, escap- 
26 


ing into another, shall, in consequence 
of any law or regulation therein, be dis¬ 
charged from such service or labor, but 
shall be delivered up on the claim of the 
party to whom such service or labor 
may be due. 

SECTION III. 

New States may be admitted by the 
Congress into this Union; but no new 
State shall be formed or erected within 
the jurisdiction of any other State; nor 
any State be formed by the junction of 
two or more States or parts of States, 
without the consent of the legislatures 
of the States concerned as well as of 
the Congress. 

The Congress shall have power to 
dispose of and make all needful rules 
and regulations respecting the territory 
or other property belonging to the 
United States; and nothing in this Con¬ 
stitution shall be so construed as to pre¬ 
judice any claims of the United States 
or of any particular State. 

SECTION IV. 

The United States shall guarantee 


27 


to every State in this Union a republican 
form of government, and shall protect 
each of them against invasion, and on 
application of the legislature, or of the 
executive (when the legislature cannot 
be convened), against domestic violence. 

ARTICLE V. 

The Congress, whenever two thirds 
of both houses shall deem it necessary, 
shall propose amendments to this Con¬ 
stitution, or, on the application of the 
legislatures of two thirds of the several 
States, shall call a convention for pro¬ 
posing amendments, which in either 
case shall be valid to all intents and pur¬ 
poses as part of this Constitution, when 
ratified by the legislatures of three 
fourths of the several States, or by con¬ 
ventions in three fourths thereof, as the 
one or the other mode of ratification 
may be proposed by the Congress, pro¬ 
vided that no amendments which may 
be made prior to the year one thousand 
eight hundred and eight shall in any 
manner aifect the first and fourth 


28 


clauses in the ninth section of the first 
article; and that no State, without its 
consent, shall be deprived of its equal 
suffrage in the Senate. 

ARTICLE VI. 

All debts contracted and engage¬ 
ments entered into, before the adoption 
of this Constitution, shall be as valid 
against the United States under this 
Constitution as under the confederation. 

This Constitution, and the laws of 
the United States which shall be made 
in pursuance thereof, and all treaties 
made, or which shall be made, under 
the authority of the United States, 
shall be the supreme law in the land; 
and the judges in every State shall be 
bound thereby, anything in the Consti¬ 
tution or laws of any State to the con¬ 
trary notwithstanding. 

The Senators and Representatives 
before mentioned, and the members of 
the several State legislatures, and all 
executive and judicial officers both of 
the United States and of the several 


29 


States, shall be bound by oath or affirm¬ 
ation to support this Constitution; but 
no religious test shall ever be required 
as a qualification to any office or public 
trust under the United States. 

ARTICLE VII. 

The ratification of the conventions 
of nine States shall be sufficient for the 
establishment of this Constitution be¬ 
tween the States so ratifying the same. 

Done in Convention by the Unan¬ 
imous Consent of the States 
present, the Seventeenth day of 
September, in the year of our 
Lord one thousand seven hundred 
and Eighty-seven, and of the In¬ 
dependence of the United States 
of America the Twelfth. 3ti 
IfflitefiH whereof. We have 
hereunto subscribed our Names. 

G®. Washington 

Presdt, and Deputy from Virginia 
New Hampshire 

John Langdon Nicholas Gilman 

Massachusetts 

Nathaniel Gorham Rufus King 


30 


Connecticut 

Wm. Saml. Johnson Roger Sherman 

New York 

Alexander Hamilton 

Nezv Jersey 

Wil: Livingston Wm. Paterson 

David Brearley Jona: Dayton 

Pennsylvania 

B. Franklin Thos. Fitzsimons 

Thomas Mifflin Jared Ingersoll 

Robt. Morris James Wilson 

Geo. Clymer Gouv. Morris 

Delaivare 

Geo. Read Richard Bassett 

Gunning Bedford, Jun, Jaco; Broom 

John Dickinson 

Maryland 

James McHenry Dan Carroll 

Dan of St. Thos. Jenifer 

V irginia 

John Blair James Madison, Jr. 

North Carolina 

Wm. Blount Hugh Williamson 

Rich D Dobbs Speight 

South Carolina 

J. Rutledge Charles Pinckney 

Charles Cotesworth Pinckney Pierce Butler 

Georg^ia 

William Few Abr. Baldwin 

Attest: William Jackson, Secretary. 


31 



AMENDMENTS. 


ARTICLE 1. 

Congress shall make no law respect¬ 
ing an establishment of religion, or 
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or 
abridging the freedom of speech or of 
the press; or the right of the people 
peaceably to assemble, and to petition 
the government for a redress of griev¬ 
ances. 

ARTICLE 11. 

A well-regulated militia being neces¬ 
sary to the security of a free State, the 
right of the people to keep and bear 
arms shall not be infringed. 

ARTICLE III. 

No soldier shall, in time of peace, be 
quartered in any house without the 
consent of the owner, nor in time of 
war, but in a manner to be prescribed 
by law. 


33 


ARTICLE IV. 


The right of the people to be secure 
in their persons, houses, papers, and 
effects, against unreasonable searches 
and seizures, shall not be violated, and 
no warrant shall issue but upon prob¬ 
able cause, supported by oath or affirm¬ 
ation, and particularly describing the 
place to be searched, and the person 
or things to be seized. 

ARTICLE V. 

No person shall be held to answer 
for a capital or otherwise infamous 
crime, unless on a presentment or in¬ 
dictment of a grand jury, except in cases 
arising in the land or naval forces, or 
in the militia, when in actual service 
in time of war or public danger; nor 
shall any person be subject for the same 
offense to be twice put in jeopardy of 
life, or limb; nor shall be compelled in 
any criminal case to be a witness against 
himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, 
or property, without due process of law; 


34 


nor shall private property be taken for 
public use without just compensation. 

ARTICLE VI. 

In all criminal prosecutions the ac¬ 
cused shall enjoy the right to a speedy 
and public trial, by an impartial jury 
of the State and district wherein the 
crime shall have been committed, which 
district shall have been previously ascer¬ 
tained by law, and to be informed of 
the nature and cause of the accusation; 
to be confronted with the witnesses 
against him; to have compulsory process 
for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and 
to have the assistance of counsel for his 
defense. 

ARTICLE VIL 

In suits at common law, where the 
value in controversy shall exceed 
twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury 
shall be preserved, and no fact tried by 
a jury shall be otherwise re-examined 
in any court of the United States, than 
according to the rules of the common 
law. 


35 


ARTICLE VIII. 


Excessive bail shall not be required, 
nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel 
and unusual punishments inflicted. 

ARTICLE IX. 

The enumeration in the Constitution 
of certain rights shall not be construed 
to deny or disparage others retained by 
the people. 


ARTICLE X. 

The powers not delegated to the 
United States by the Constitution, nor 
prohibited by it to the States, are re¬ 
served to the States respectively or to 
the people. 


ARTICLE XL 

The judicial power of the United 
States shall not be construed to extend 
to any suit in law or equity, commenced 
or prosecuted against one of the United 


36 


States by citizens of another State, or 
by citizens or subjects of any foreign 
State. 


ARTICLE XII. 

The electors shall meet in their re¬ 
spective States and vote by ballot for 
President and Vice-President, one of 
whom, at least, shall not be an inhabit¬ 
ant of the same State with themselves; 
they shall name in their ballots the 
person voted for as President, and in 
distinct ballots the person voted for as 
Vice-President, and they shall make 
distinct lists of all persons voted for as 
President and of all persons voted for 
as Vice-President, and of the number 
of votes for each; which lists they shall 
sign and certify, and transmit sealed 
to the seat of the government of the 
United States, directed to the President 
of the Senate. The President of the 
Senate shall, in the presence of the 
Senate and House of Representatives, 
open all the certificates and the votes 
shall then be counted. The person 


37 


having the greatest number of votes for 
President shall be the President, if such 
number be a majority of the whole 
number of electors appointed; and if 
no person have such majority, then 
from the persons having the highest 
numbers not exceeding three on the list 
of those voted for as President, the 
House of Representatives shall choose 
immediately, by ballot, the President. 
But in choosing the President the votes 
shall be taken by States, the representa¬ 
tion from each State having one vote; a 
quorum for this purpose shall consist of 
a member or members from two thirds 
of the States, and a majority of all the 
States shall be necessary to a choice. 
And if the House of Representatives 
shall not choose a President whenever 
the right of choice shall devolve upon 
them, before the fourth day of March 
next following, then the Vice-President 
shall act as President, as in the q^asc 
of the death or other constitutional dis¬ 
ability of the President. 

The person having the greatest 
number of votes as Vice-President shall 

38 


be the Vice-President, if such number 
be a majority of the whole number of 
electors appointed; and if no person 
have a majority, then from the two 
highest numbers on the list the Senate 
shall choose the Vice-President; a 
quorum for the purpose shall consist of 
two thirds of the whole number of 
Senators, and a majority of the whole 
number shall be necessary to a choice. 
But no person constitutionally in¬ 
eligible to the office of President shall 
be eligible to that of Vice-President of 
the United States. 

ARTICLE XIIL 

SECTION I. 

Neither slavery nor involuntary ser¬ 
vitude, except as a punishment for 
crime whereof the party shall have been 
duly convicted, shall exist within the 
United States or any place subject to 
their jurisdiction. 

SECTION II. 

Congress shall have power to en¬ 
force this article by appropriate legis¬ 
lation. 


39 


ARTICLE XIV. 


SECTION I. 

All persons born or naturalized in the 
United States, and subject to the juris¬ 
diction thereof, are citizens of the 
United States and of the State wherein 
they reside. No State shall make or en¬ 
force any law which shall abridge the 
privileges or immunities of citizens of 
the United States; nor shall any State 
deprive any person of life, liberty, or 
property, without due process of law; 
nor deny to any person within its juris¬ 
diction the equal protection of the laws. 

SECTION II. 

Representatives shall be apportioned 
among the several States according to 
their respective numbers, counting the 
whole number of persons in each State, 
excluding Indians not taxed. But when 
the right to vote at any election for the 
choice of electors for President and 
Vice-President of the United States, 
Representatives in Congress, the execu¬ 
tive and judicial officers of a State, or 

40 


the members of the legislature thereof, 
is denied to any of the male inhabitants 
of such State, being twenty-one years of 
age, and citizens of the United States, or 
in any way abridged, except for parti¬ 
cipation in rebellion, or other crime, the 
basis of representation therein shall be 
reduced in the proportion which the 
number of such male citizens shall bear 
to the whole number of male citizens 
twenty-one years of age in such State. 

SECTION III, 

No person shall be a Senator or 
Representative in Congress, or elector 
of President and Vice-President, or hold 
any office, civil or military, under the 
United States or under any State, who, 
having previously taken an oath as a 
member of Congress, or as an officer of 
the United States, or as a member of 
any State legislature, or as an executive 
or judicial officer of any State, to sup¬ 
port the Constitution of the United 
States, shall have engaged in insurrec¬ 
tion or rebellion against the same, or 
given aid or comfort to the enemies 


41 


thereof. But Congress may, by a vote 
of two thirds of each house, remove 
such disability. 

SECTION IV. 

The validity of the public debt of the 
United States, authorized by law, in¬ 
cluding debts incurred for payment of 
pensions and bounties for services in 
suppressing insurrection or rebellion, 
shall not be questioned. But neither 
the United States nor any State shall 
assume or pay any debt or obligation in¬ 
curred in aid of insurrection or rebellion 
against the United States, or any claim 
for the loss or emancipation of any 
slave; but all such debts, obligations, 
and claims shall be held illegal and void. 

SECTION V. 

The Congress shall have power to 
enforce, by appropriate legislation, the 
provisions of this article. 

ARTICLE XV. 

SECTION I. 

The right of citizens of the United 
States to vote shall not be denied or 


42 


abridged by the United States or by any 
State on account of race, color, or previ¬ 
ous condition of servitude. 

SECTION II. 

The Congress shall have power to 
enforce this article by appropriate legis-' 
lation. 


43 


Ratification of 

The Constitution of the United States. 


Delaware . 


Pennsylvania . 

.December 12, 

New Jersey . 


Georgia . 


Connecticut . 

.January 9, 

Massachusetts . 

.February 6, 

Maryland . 


South Carolina . 

.May 23. 

New Hampshire .... 


Virginia . 


New York . 

.July 26, 

North Carolina. 


Rhode Island. 

.May 29, 


Amendments Ratified. 


1787 

1787 

1787 

1788 
1788 
1788 
1788 
1788 
1788 
1788 

1788 

1789 

1790 


Articles I to X.1791 

Article XI .1798 

Article XII .1804 

Article XIII .1865 

Article XIV.1868 

Article XV .1870 


44 

























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